Vasily Barkhatov

On the 50th anniversary of Shostakovich’s death, La Scala opens the Season with his masterpiece Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, based on the novella by Nikolai Leskov. After its premiere in St. Petersburg, the opera – which was intended to be the first part of a trilogy on women’s condition in Russia – enjoyed great success at home and abroad. Stalin attended a performance in Moscow in 1936; two days later, the famous denunciation titled “Chaos Instead of Music” appeared in Pravda, through which the regime blacklisted the opera and its composer. Years later, Shostakovich prepared a new version that was staged in Moscow in 1963 under the title Katerina Izmailova, after Superintendent Ghiringhelli had unsuccessfully tried to secure its premiere for La Scala. Today, the theatre presents the original 1934 version, conducted by M° Chailly and the debut of director Barkhatov.

An almost Chekhovian story about a once successful director making his last film, in spite of everything and everybody, in his country house. Strange guests, vain actors, somewhat eccentric neighbours and the director are reason enough for the author’s irony, and sometimes sarcasm. And you remember? Chekhov’s guns always fire!

The two short operas Eine Florentinische Tragödie and Herzog Blaubarts Burg are linked by a central theme: the progressive recognition of the only seemingly familiar counterpart. In Zemlinsky's Eine Florentinische Tragödie, the murder of Bianca's lover by her jealous husband Simone leads to a dialog between the two spouses that surprisingly signals a new beginning of love. In Bartók's one-act opera, however, Judith's journey to the inner depths of her beloved Duke Bluebeard - symbolized by the opening of seven mysterious doors - ends in darkness and loneliness.

Vanya, a young scientist, has spent all his life in a satellite town next to one of the biggest nuclear stations. Just like his parents, Vanya works at the nuclear station, but only because his girlfriend, Tanya, also works in the facility. When the ambitious Tanya decides to end their relationship, Vanya must find his resolve and steer himself to true love.

Production of the Teatro San Carlo, 2024. Turandot can be considered Giacomo Puccini's masterpiece, being his last and unfinished opera, which tells the story of the beautiful and cruel Chinese princess Turandot, who subjects her suitors to a test consisting of solving three riddles, awaiting death if they are not able to do so.

A general and his stepdaughter are both heavily in debt. When the family's tutor, in love with the girl, gets lucky at the gambling table, he tries to rescue her from her desperate situation, but she outright rejects him. Prokofiev's first full-length opera The Gambler, based on Dostoyevsky's partly autobiographical novella ironically written to settle gambling debts, is rarely performed today. This 2020 production brings together director Vasily Barkhatov and conductor Modestas Pitrenas and stars the winner of the 2019 International Opera Award, Asmik Grigorian, in the role of Polina.

Norma is a woman torn between two systems. As a chaste druid priestess, she decides on war and peace in an occupied land; secretly, she’s the lover of Roman commander Pollione and mother of his two children. Her double life unravels when Pollione plans to leave her for the younger priestess Adalgisa. Caught between love and vengeance, faith and reason, tradition and empire, Norma nearly kills her children—before choosing another, equally radical path. Vincenzo Bellini’s 1831 opera is a masterpiece of Italian Romanticism. The role of Norma, with its emotional and vocal range from bel canto to raw outcry, is iconic. Director Vasily Barkhatov sets the tragedy amid political upheaval, where old idols are replaced by new. Star soprano Asmik Grigorian debuts in the title role. Adalgisa is sung by Aigul Akhmetshina.

St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre has staged the opera Dead Souls to the music by Rodion Shchedrin, who turns 80 in 2012. One of the indisputable operatic masterpieces of the 20th century will appear in the brand new, bright, expressive staged version, more than 30 years later, again at the Mariinsky Theatre. The premiere of the production took place on March 18. It is the first Russian production since its 1977 premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre.